That Other Kid

I've stumbled upon a delightful tactic with my older two kiddos, Braden and Zekes.  Braden, especially, has a hard time with his attitude and heart when things do not go as planned or if he gets angry.  He comes by it honestly, I'm sad to say!  He follows in my footsteps.  When I am upset, I want to sit in it until I am done.  I don't want to be happy or have a good attitude, I want to finish out my irritation, frustration or anger first. ;)  (Vanessa, I still remember you trying to get me out of my bad moods and vice versa.  Fun times!)  As I was encountering this situation with Braden for the who-knows-what-time, I told him that I don't like it when that other kid comes to visit.  I told him that I like my Braden and that other kid needs to go back to his house.  The result?  Instant smile!  Followed by much giggling.  Awesome!  I shared the technique with Sam and we have both been employing it and I must say, we are pretty excited!

I used it with Zekers this morning and it was a beautiful thing!  The winds of heart change, they are a blowin'!  I am also learning to pray with them when they are having a hard time gaining self-control.  That is one of the fruits of the spirit and the Holy Spirit gives it freely as well as the ability to make the choice to want it.  I want them to learn that no matter what is going on in their lives, good, bad or eh, that if we continually ask the Lord into it, invite Him to be a part of every moment of our day, that He GLADLY joins us, guides us and encourages us.  It also causes us to seek Him BEFORE we make decisions to see if we should even be doing whatever in the first place.  We can truly rest in waiting on Him and walking the path He has set before us!  That is peace!  Its a slow process because I am still a work in progress, too, and I have to change my heart and attitude and built-in reactions to situations, as well.  I'm excited!  Bring on the pruning!

Who Needs a Foodsaver...

When you have storage baggies and a straw?!  It works so I'm not gonna knock it!  I've been separating things and putting them in the freezer and I'm appreciating my handy straw and baggies team. :)

In other news, we went to the doctor again today.  Yeah, I told him we should just camp out there because it was becoming a daily habit.  Anyway, this time was for Zekey's well kid and to have Braden's hands looked at.  Zekey is 37 lbs and 9 oz and 42".  Braden didn't get his height done because it was not a well check for him, but his weight is 50 lbs 3 oz.

When Zekes got his temp. check, he had a bit of a fever and then when the doc took a look, he found both ears with an infection. :(  Not a new occurrence, but we will be doing some more garlic and onion ear drops.  Zekers also had to get three shots.  He hadn't had any since he was two-ish, so his face alternated between shock, horror and anguish.  Poor Zekey!  He only cried during the process and for a few seconds afterward, but some toys and a sucker later, he was right as rain. ;p

I love our kids' doctor!  He is very much a let's-give-em-meds-if-they-need-it-and-try-alternative-routes-if-we-can.  He doesn't ever scoff at my alternative measures and most of the time he is already aware of them and just supports and encourages.  That is such an unusual stance for a doctor and I feel very blessed to have him as our pediatrician!  Point in case - Braden's hands have many warts on them.  I know this can be a sensitive subject, but  we don't make a big deal out of it and he knows the facts of what they are and why we are trying to get rid of them.  He also knows that both Sam and I have dealt with them.  Sam had them when he was little and I had a very pesky one when I was around 12-ish.  I got mine frozen off and Sam had to get his burned off.  So, today, Braden got two of them frozen.  The doctor and I discussed several options and I ended up liking the idea of just aiming at one on each hand and seeing if it will jump start an immune response for the rest of them.  If it doesn't work, we'll probably either go in on occasion to get several frozen off at a time or the nurse had an interesting suggestion.  She said her daughter had lots on her fingers and nothing really worked until she went to see the dermatologist and he injected yeast into them.  Same principle at work - trying to get the body to realize there is an infection there and to attack it.  We'll see what happens.        

Hopefully, we are done with the doctor trips for a while. :)

In the News...

Well, my news anyway.  I'm still working on getting back up to speed with the kiddo updates.  I have pictures coming out the wazoo here and I'm trying to keep ahead of the avalanche!  I've been sitting at the computer a lot the past few days trying to upload pics to get them developed and starting certain photo projects for gifts and on and on and on...ugh! Anyway, hopefully, I will soon have pics to put in all the frames hanging on the wall.

I've got some projects in mind for the near future, but here's what I'm knee deep into right now.  I decided to make the pantry that Sam converted for me only a half pantry.  I stuck my craft paraphernalia in there, too.  I'm still trying to get it all organized, which might take me the next year or so to accomplish, but here it is so far.....

 I know that I've mentioned in previous posts that I am indeed a ribbon junkie.  Here's some proof.  This is actually on the low side because I've used a lot of it lately.  I'll be stocking up soon...:)  I also found this to help me organize all that loose ribbon:

This is the Ribbon Ring and you can buy it here.

This is actually supposed to be the pantry part, but it is hosting some of my craft junk until I can figure out where to put it all!

I couldn't fit everything into the closet and had to leave these two rolling bins in my bedroom, so now I'm trying to figure out how to beautify them.  Right now, I'm thinking of getting a piece of plyboard and cutting it to fit across both of the tops and then surround it with a curtain and decoupage or paint the top.  Then I can use it as a nightstand. We'll see.

AND...I kept passing a house down the road and kept seeing these chairs sitting outside and then a couple of days ago noticed that they had been moved to the back of the truck in the driveway.  I decided to see if the intent was to throw them away and so I stopped and asked.  Sure enough, the man was going to throw them away!  So, SCORE!  I love the lines of these chairs.  I'm gonna reupholster them...well, after I've cut two new seat bottoms for the ones that are bottomless. :)  Anyway, the bonus is that they pair well with this table that I rescued from being tossed at a neighbor's down the street.  I'm just a small step away from dumpster diving.....;p

Oh, and this is on my list for the future - a Play Kitchen!:

Found this one among others here.

Totally in love with the little ruffled curtain on this one.  Don't really have room for this kind of spread though.  Found this one here.

This one's a beauty!  Found it here.

Lovin' this one, too!  Found here.

Lookey here at this fancy-schmancy one!  They did a really great job on this one.  I prolly won't feel like putting this much work into a play kitchen, but it sure is cute!  Found here.

This one is my favorite.  Sooooo cute!  Found it here.

Then, of course, we'll need to furnish it with felt food:

Cuteness!!!
Again with the cute!

Seriously talented lady!

And...Check these out!

click here to see or buy.

Mid-wife Check up

Yesterday afternoon, I had a check in with my mid-wives.  I just love them!  I had had a trying afternoon and Sam came home and found me in tears.  Right now we are at a loss at to how to reach a certain little girl's heart and train her up the right way.  The Lord will show us. :)  My mom says that she sounds very much like me and how I responded to things at that age.  I know its all gonna be okay.  I am just tired and still preggers and not handling things as well as I could.  That's okay, too. :)

Anyway, I got to my mid-wives and they had me laughing within minutes of arriving and my visit was very fun and relaxing.  I got checked for the first time this whole 9-months.  I LOVE that there is no unnecessary "procedures" with them.  Love it!!!  Anyway, since I am at a week and 4 days past my due date that we came up with originally, we all decided a check would be good.  We would have an idea of what's going on in there to some extent to make sure that we aren't totally off on the timing.  We all agree that there's at least a week's leeway.  So, the findings were that I'm a stretchy 2 cm dilated and about 40-50% effaced.  I'm having the right kinds of contractions and have the right conditions for the birthing process to get going.  We are going to give me another week before doing anything to "help" the process along. ;)  I was encouraged to go and get a biophysical sonogram done to check fluid levels and make sure the placenta is still doing its job and to give my mid-wives a better idea of how things are in there.  So, I will be going today to the sonogram place to get that done and see what's what.

I also have to praise the Lord because I haven't been sleeping all that well and even though I still had to get up a few times last night because my bladder was making its last stands...., I got some really good rest and was able to sleep until 8 this morning sans my usual Zekey wake up call!  It was WONDERFUL!  Thank You, Lord!

Animal Storage revisited and some cuteness

I finished the animal storage "unit". I basically just took an old towel and cut the ends where the bands are off and then hemmed those edges. Then, I folded one of the long ends up to make a big pocket. I sewed both sides and then sewed down the middle making two pockets. I added the the ribbon loops at the top first, then sewed that ribbon band over them for aesthetic purposes. I added the ribbon to the edges of the pocket because I was convinced it was needed. :) At first, I was going to put this under the window where all the other toys are "arranged", but then got the idea to hang it on the front of her crib where she would have access at night or whenever, since she likes to sleep with them all anyway.

Not too shabby, well maybe shabby chic? I think I want to aim that way in decorating her room. It'll fit her for a long time until she older and starts having her own ideas about how she wants her room to look and feel. :)

While I was in the process of capturing my latest "creation", Ailey came in to investigate. She had a really big smile on her face. She peeked in the pockets and then in her bed. I left her bunny and Baby Brenna in her bed and she decided that they needed to join the rest of the clan. So, up and over she climbed to retrieve them.

She tried to put them in from the top....

They didn't quite fit, so....

She climbed back out of her bed with them to try it from the front.

There was some rearranging involved to make room.

Brenna fits that way just fine...apparently.

I mentioned in a previous post that Ailey has a liking for backpacks. She was carrying Braden's Thomas backpack around for a few days until.....This came in the mail from Aunt Jenny, Uncle Ben and her cousins Elijah, Luke, Gabe and Boaz!!!!

How perfect is that?!?! She LOVES this thing. Its name, as you can see is Tippy Toad, but she calls her Tippy Toes. I love that. Gonna keep that going. Its just so cute! See the grabby hands? She couldn't handle that I had put it up there where she couldn't get to it. Oh, and all those necklaces, save one, are courtesy of Granny who also brought a bag full of dress up clothes. Still working on the dress-up trunk.

Deo update....

I was really thinking the homemade deodorant experiment was a complete success, but alas I ran into a warm weather snag. Yeah, ew. Hello, B-O! Who invited you?! I was using the simple coconut oil, baking soda and corn starch recipe. For the winter it was just fine. Didn't have any issues. I ran out about two weeks ago and decided to try a recipe that included beeswax. Now, in all fairness the recipe calls for tea tree oil and shea butter and I didn't have either. Tea tree oil is a combatant of bacteria, so I'm sure it probably is an important ingredient. I just winged it since it was not present in this here house. Let's just say I was out and about a couple of times and B.O. decided to rear its ugly head. Yuck! I hate it when that happens. The only thing I could do was use baby wipes to buy myself some time until I could get home and reapply. Anyway, I was on the verge of going back to a store bought deodorant, though more in the natural direction like the crystal deodorant or the like. Anyway, I remember seeing this one guy's comment at the bottom of one of the deodorant recipes I had come across in my google wanderings. He said all he does is get his pit damp and pat on plain ole baking soda. Well, I tried it in my desperation. Anything not to have to go to the store at this point....;p So far, so good. Apparently, I was trying too hard. Now we will have the true test when we go to homeschool group coop. There are stairs which leads to sweating on my part at this point. Plus, its getting warmer and my body in its hormonal state takes issue with the temperature. Anyway, I will be taking a small container of the baking soda with me just in case, but I will definitely report on my findings........

****Reporting on findings: I'm dry and smell free! I don't even have to apply it every day. Amazing. I'll keep ya updated as summer approaches along with a baby, nursing and moby wrap wearing. Gonna put this stuff through its paces and see how it holds up!

Cloth Diapering Re-visited

Well, we are at it again. I'm giving those cloth diapers another go. I came upon something that rather intrigued me. gDiapers.

Our HEB here happens to carry them, so I went and got a couple of them with the biodegradable inserts. I wanted the cloth inserts, but HEB doesn't carry those. Anyway, Ailey didn't like them because the little snaps on the inside rubbed the sides of her hip. I might be able to figure a way around that, but for now, what I've been doing is using up the g inserts by pairing them with the microfiber inserts I made for my cloth diapers, in my cloth diapers. Its been good so far, but she looks like she's wearing a bustle. I'm now looking into getting some bamboo and hemp cloth and making thinner inserts that absorb more. I found these on nappyshoppe - gflappers.

I like how they are so much thinner than the ones I came up with. She sells the cloth for them, so I am going to order some and see if I can't get the bulk down! Anyone have a surger they don't want?

I still prefer disposable diapers if we are out and about or if someone else may need to change her. Once I get the thinner inserts made, I'll probably be okay with keeping her in them when we go out. Right now, she looks like she was overly blessed in the ba-donk-a-donk area. I might need to take a pic....

So, I did take a pic or two:

Quick update on the milk

We went on Saturday and got our first load of raw milk. We all really enjoyed meeting their family and the kids went off to play like they've known each other forever. I love their farm! Its so very much like what we would like to do someday. I do believe she and I are kindred spirits. :)

We brought the milk home (she gave us extra, too!) and I got started on how to separate the cream. I found some conflicting info, so I tried it two ways. I think the best way for me is going to be to just put it in my big crock and put it in the fridge over night and then skim. It takes a bit of time, but I am determined! I've also found yet another reason I need a thermometer for reading things in pots. I've also decided that we need to finally take the plunge and buy a big stock pot. :) Anyway, I have some heavy cream (I think) collection started in the fridge and hopefully, I will have enough to make some icecream soon. Yummy! Next, I want to try to make butter, though I don't know if that will be viable. I use a LOT of butter and I don't think I could make enough. I'll try it though! I also made some yogurt and it turned out just fine. I think it will be even better than the usual because of the richness of the milk. :) Anyway, that's what we've done so far with the milk, other than just drink it. The kids love it and Sam says its liquid gold. I think we're sold!

Got Milk?

I was looking into a source for goat's milk around these here parts and was having NO success. I buy organic milk from the grocery store and wanted to see if I could get larger quantities of milk for a bit cheaper from a local source. My kids are inhaling the stuff and I can barely keep up! Right now, I am using a sneaky technique from the guru I will mention more about in a few lines by pouring half the gallon of milk into another clean empty milk jug and mixing it with reconstituted powdered milk. You can then freeze one or more gallons, though learn from my mistake and put it in the fridge until the froth has settled so it doesn't erupt like a volcano in the deep freeze...Yeah.

I was notified, however, that there is a source of raw cow milk and it is available to us via trade. Since all members of the previous generations of both Sam's and my families swear by it and how much better it is for you and oh-the-things-you-can-make-from-it, we are gonna give it a go. I'm even more excited by the prospect of being able to make the following from said milk: yogurt, cream cheese, butter, sour cream, heavy cream and buttermilk. You get buttermilk through the butter making process and cream cheese from draining yogurt and sour cream by letting heavy cream sit for a day or two and don't forget about the whipped cream from the heavy cream, too. Oh, and let's not forget about cheese! We go through cheese like it is going out of style! (There is a multipurpose trend in this domicile...one stop shopping, folks!)...I mean, hello!, what has taken me so long to get into all this?! Seriously, my grocery bill has the potential to drop drastically! Anyway, I'm just excited and I will try and document the occurrences as they take place.

Another thing I hope to be doing soon is dehydrating a bunch of stuff. I have had a dehydrator for a LONG time. I asked for it for Christmas once when I was a teenager. I know, I'm weird, but I wanted to make my own fruit roll-ups and dried apples and such. Anyway, it has hardly gotten any use and I intend to change that. I spoke to a lady in our homeschool group who is a grocery shopping, canning, dehyrating and bulk food storage guru. I'm still blown away by her ingenuity. I doubt I will ever reach her level, but I can incorporate so much more than what I am doing without much more fuss than I already make! Can't beat that.:) I'll keep you posted.

Glory to my God in heaven who makes it all possible!! You know God loves multipurpose, too. He did create the cow, after all!;p